What makes comparisons between all these figures difficult, however, is price. While we have a reasonable idea of the kind of thing we can expect hardware-wise from both Microsoft and, to a lesser extent, Apple, there's still debate over the cost of both the Surface and the iPad Mini, so it's unfair to compare order numbers.

One thing is clear, though, if these figures are accurate: any pretence that Microsoft had of launching the Surface as a starting point for other manufacturers will be blown out of the water. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is on record as explaining that he was planning for the company to "sell a few million" tablets over the next 12 months — and those order figures tell a different story altogether. [WSJ]